


A Fae-ry Tale

by lnhumanities



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, ill add more tags as this goes on but for now this is it, mostly self indulgent, this is like a modern au but with some supernatural elements to it, this is my first fanfic pls be nice ;;;w;;;
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23077114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lnhumanities/pseuds/lnhumanities
Summary: {placeholder title! It's bound to change at some point.}Ever after high modern AU (with a twist)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	A Fae-ry Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Hi :3!!! My name's Sol, and welcome to my first ever eah fanfic (and fanfic in general lol). I hope you like it, and if you have any constructive criticism, feel free to share it in the comments! (Although. Please Be Nice I'm Trying My Hardest ;;;w;;;)  
> Anyways, if you ever wanna chat about ever after high stuff, my tumblr @ is Lnhumanities, and don't be afraid to message me!

_Crunch._

A simple, almost miniscule mistake, and that’s all it took for her to be noticed. 

That’s all it took for her to almost lose her neck. 

A dagger, which seemed to travel at the speed of light, made its way through the frost-ridden air, before it lodged itself into the bark of an oak-tree. The only proof that there had been a clear target previously was the slight stain of berry-blue blood engulfing the tip of the iron blade. But even then, the blood on the weapon began to sizzle, as if the blood couldn’t handle touching the iron, and it evaporated almost immediately.

The source of the singular, almost minute crunching sound, a girl, sat atop a tree branch holding a hand over her mouth to muffle her breathing, and holding another hand to her nicked arm to keep her blood from spilling onto the fresh autumn snow. It was like warm molasses, sticking against the palm of her hand, and making her feel sick. However, she couldn’t let herself be caught now-- or rather, she wouldn’t let herself. Not when she had gotten this far to exposing the true nature of the woman she was pursuing.

The injured girl watched silently, as the autumn leaves made their descent onto the crisp, frozen ground, completely unaware that somebody had begun to make their way through the freshly fallen snow. Of course, through bated breath, the minorly-wounded girl could all but watch as the only other person around rested her pale-as-winter hand on the handle of the dagger, looking to investigate the blade for a moment, before seeming to be satisfied with whatever purpose it had been intended for, and she tore it out of the tree to put it back into its sheath. 

She’d been nearly caught and the price that she paid was, thankfully, only physical. She could’ve lost more than a mere couple droplets of her precious blood. She could’ve lost the evidence of the raven-haired woman’s betrayal to the entire court--or even to their entire species’ existence-- and she would’ve been marked as a traitor and banished, rather than the woman who she was following. Rather than the woman who was the one that truly deserved to lose her place as next-in-line on the throne. (And who, perhaps, even deserved to lose her life.)

However, she was safe, and she needed to hurry, while keeping her location unknown to her target. If she didn’t carefully pursue the other woman and subsequently prove that she was a traitor to her kind, she would lose all evidence in her case and she would be marked as delirious, mad, and undeserving of a spot in the court. The woman looked around, suddenly noticing that her target had seemingly vanished into thin air, and took a deep breath. 

Had she lost her? The woman looked around quietly, and sighed. She must’ve not gone far, not in the few moments that the woman had lost track of and lost her in. Perhaps she could locate her again before--!

But, before she could make even a single movement, she felt the frozen, crushing weight of a small yet-sharp hand on her shoulder.

Her target’s hand.

“Faybelle.” The girl said, colder than the fresh snow around them, whilst staring at her with enraged eyes that would’ve excited Faybelle, had it not been directed towards her. “I command you to cease your following of me. _At once._ ”

Faybelle bit her tongue so she couldn’t retort in some way that would reveal her intentions, and instead smiled sweetly at the other girl. Her smile looked like the one of a snake, right before it would lunge at its prey and end its measly life. Venomous, and ultimately deadly, to say the least. 

“Of course, Raven. But, just so you know, I wasn’t following you for my own benefit, I just wanted to make sure that you were keeping yourself safe, since the journey from home to the faerie circle you tend to travel to is oh-so dangerous, especially so for someone of your caliber. ”

Raven’s eye seemed to twitch, and she ripped her hand off of Faybelle’s shoulder, as if she were burnt by her touch. “I am _not_ a child. I do _not_ need supervision, and I _do not need protection_. Especially not from the likes of you.” Raven began, her tone of voice dipped in poisonous shards. “Once again, I command you to cease following me immediately, and allow for me do my duties at once, without being stalked by you, Faybelle.”

Faybelle seemed to take Raven’s warning seriously, as her eyes followed Raven’s hand, which had moved from her side to rest atop her iron blade’s handle, and she chuckled slightly. Although, out of genuine fear or not she didn’t know. 

“Of course, _princess_ Raven.” She said, resting a hand on the woman’s shoulder, which was pushed away immediately, and fell to her side. “I’ll leave you be at once.”

“I appreciate it.” Raven replied, before relaxing her grip on her iron blade and placing the flap of her sheath back upon the top of it. Sure, she didn’t trust the other woman, but there was nothing more she could do. It was best to leave her be, and hope she didn’t pursue her.

Without another word, Faybelle took off, not daring to look back at Raven, as she could feel her violet poison-dipped glare acting as if it could pierce a hole in the back of her head. And, of course, for another, more malevolent reason.

“What a dumbass!” Faybelle laughed to herself menacingly, as soon as she was out of earshot-- as well as the unrelenting and unforgiving gaze of Raven-- and pulled a small mirror out of her pocket. 

The mirror was missing a small piece of it, but Faybelle was quite aware of this. In fact, while the other girl had been consumed in her rage of being followed by her, and was blinded by it, Faybelle had snuck the "missing" glass shard onto Raven’s scarf, which allowed for her to view Raven and record whatever actions she took while in the human realm onto her mirror, at least, as long as she had the shard on her person. Which would work out in Faybelles favor, once she showed the queen of Raven's betrayal. 

It was the perfect plan: she made herself act as a decoy, lulling Raven into a false sense of somewhat-security-- or rather, a blinded moment of rage-- and allowed for her to observe the girl while she was far, far away from her. Even if they were in different planes, as she expected Raven to be soon enough. 

Faybelle, in simple terms, viewed herself as a genius. Of course, who else would have come up with such an intelligent, foolproof plan? Not Raven Queen, of course. The idea of her coming up with a plan like hers made her laugh. Raven was about as magically talented and intelligent as she was deserving of the throne. That is to say, she wasn’t in the slightest.

In fact, the girl could barely control her own powers as it was, and wasn’t truly fit to rule. For example, what kind of fae relies on physical weapons instead of powers to protect herself? (A shit one, at best)

Raven, in Faybelle’s eyes, didn’t deserve her spot as the next Queen of the Unseelie court. Unlike another, more magically talented, gorgeous, intelligent, strong, fantastic-- and did she mention intelligent?-- fae.

Faybelle. Obviously. She’s literally the only fae in their court suited for the job, even more so than Queen Mira, Raven’s mother. _Especially_ more than her.

For fucks sake, she literally came from a long line of fae queens, until that wretched, evil, wicked woman came out of nowhere, and killed her mother, taking her mother's place as the Queen of the Unseelie court, and giving Raven Faybelle’s spot as the next in line on the throne. A spot she was totally undeserving of.

Nobody had dared to even attempt to dethrone that wicked woman, ever since the original uprising that put her in power. Of course, it was just barely understandable, as she would always take out her own, loyal subjects that even showed a sign of rebellious nature.

That is, everybody except for her own, precious, lovable, foolish daughter, Raven Queen.

“Nobody even wants her as their future Queen!” Faybelle shouted, failing to hold back her screams of frustration as she held her hands in her white and blue hair, on the verge of ripping it out. “Why does she get to be next in line for the throne instead of me? It’s royally unfair!”

Of course, she knew the answer, but it still wasn’t the one that she wished held the most truth to it, so she would continuously ask herself this same exact question, as if the answer would-- and could-- change itself to match her desires, and become something that would be easier for her to change on her own, without having some sort of elaborate, thought-out plan that relied on Raven taking one of her many missteps, which would seal her own fate in stone.

But it didn’t matter. Faybelle had the younger fae right where she wanted her, and she simply needed to prove to the rest of the court that she was working with the humans, interacting with them, and treating them kinder than she would her own kind, rather than attending to her duties, and upholding the status quo.

“Honestly…” Faybelle said, before staring into the enchanted mirror with a grin as wicked as her deceased mother’s. “What did she expect to happen, what with her bossing me around like that?”

~ ~ ~

Something didn’t feel right to Raven. Although she had lost the trail of Faybelle and scared her off, hopefully for good, it felt as if… somebody had still been watching her. Observing her. It made her feel uneasy as she took a quick glance behind herself to make sure that nobody was directly behind her. 

Of course, there was nobody there, but Raven couldn’t ever be too sure.

Through a shallow breath, Raven took a quick double-take behind herself yet again, even taking the time to inspect the array of trees around the fairy circle for any loitering or solitary faes that may have been watching her, and when she realized it was completely void of anybody else, she marked her bad, suspicious feeling off as nerves, which were most likely caused from the short, undesired conversation that she had with her “friend", Faybelle, earlier. That girl was so untrustworthy and incredibly bothersome to Raven, if she was being honest.

Ever since they were young, Faybelle almost always stuck to her, like a thorn in her side, and acted as if the two of them were the closest of friends in front of Raven’s mother. But, only in front of her mother. Otherwise, every chance that she got, Faybelle tried her hardest to have Raven be punished for any misstep, whether the matter was something incredibly small and minute (like accidentally breaking a toy or _almost_ hurting a fellow fae child-- which was completely an accident, fyi), to something of great import and significance, such as the time that Raven set a human child free from the Fae realm, returning them to where they came from. 

Honestly, how was she supposed to know that she wasn’t allowed in the room with all the human children when she herself was a child? Nobody had even spoken to her about the room, and it was Faybelle’s fault in the first place, considering she had pushed for her to go inside of the forbidden room, going so far as to tell her that there were half-fae children that needed her help, and that only Raven could rescue them. Raven wasn’t just going to let them suffer, and Raven had, unfortunately, been unaware of the fact that half-fae children were, quite literally, an impossible conception that didn’t exist. 

Sure, faes could have children with humans, but no matter what, those children would be born completely fae, rather than half human and half fae. 

And in retrospect? A half-magical being didn’t make any sense to Raven; how could one be half magical? Would that imply that they could only possess specific fae powers, but others were off-limits for them? Would their powers be lesser than those who were born completely magical? Oh, or maybe it would imply that they could only succeed half the time when reciting spells, enchanting, and whatnot?

Either way, Raven didn’t care for hypotheticals, but more importantly: she didn’t care for Faybelle. Besides, she had a much kinder, more empathetic friend than Faybelle. Someone she could actually trust.

And her name was Maddie.

And sure, there’s the whole thing of “DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, GIVE A FAE YOUR NAME!!!” but Maddie had a habit of doing things that went against… your typical rules and restrictions. 

However, she wasn’t foolish about it in any way, shape, or form. Oh no, she may have been a silly, nonsensical human girl, but Maddie was in no way stupid. She simply had a knack of finding loopholes through nearly every single fae rule, which included telling Raven her true name without actually giving Raven power over her, which Raven was incredibly grateful for. Maddie was the most insane genius that Raven ever had the pleasure of meeting, even though she technically wasn’t allowed to be her friend, due to an unfortunately universal fae law that even Maddie couldn’t find a loophole for.

Honestly, she never understood the rule, if she was being completely honest. Why couldn’t she associate with humans? Why did her mother and other fae view them as lesser creatures, when they were truly equals? Did she have some sort of vendetta against them? A sort of superiority complex that was shared with other fae?

Raven simply didn’t understand it, and in spite of the rule, Raven would visit her friend, Maddie as often as she could, and converse with her like actual friends would, simply because she was her equal, and vice versa. The two of them were the best of friends, and they both held each other in high respect, which was more than Raven could say for her fellow fae towards one another.

And yeah, it was technically an offense punishable by banishment, but, excuse her language, Raven didn’t give a shit. She didn’t care what other fae thought of her! 

She didn’t ever feel like she belonged anyway, what with other fae treating her differently because her mother was a Queen that stole the title, whether that treatment was because they were envious of her power, terrified of what she may do to them if they upset her, astonished at her position, or even a mix of all three. Raven just didn’t feel like she had a place among other fae.

With Maddie, however… she felt truly at home. In the hundreds of years she’s been alive, Maddie was the only person she’s ever felt truly connected to. 

Even in spite of the fact that her connection to her could lead to the off-chance that she would get banished-- or even killed by other fae. (She didn’t even dare to think of what other fae would do to Maddie, if she got caught.) But for the most part, Raven didn’t care if she was banished. Yeah, it’d hurt her a lot, but as long as she had Maddie, maybe she wouldn’t mind?

Maybe.

It was a complicated issue. On one hand, Raven loved her mother (in some sort of strained way, as her mother never truly understood what she wanted and what was best for her) along with her father, and she did truly care for the other fae in the court, despite how they usually treated her. 

However, on the other hand, Raven just wanted to be able to do whatever she wished, whether that be befriending humans, simply just switching to the seelie court, or just… living life like a human. Oh how she longed to see things from their point of view, and know what it felt to live such a short yet eventful and emotional life.

Of course, she’d never tell her mother how she felt about that. She’d probably lock Raven up for good and eliminate Maddie, to make sure that she stopped getting those “crazy” ideas in her head.

Speaking of Maddie… Raven looked up to see her friend skipping over to the taller girl, waving excitedly to her with both hands, only stopping to jump in piles of fresh autumn leaves.

“Hey, sillyhead!” Maddie shouted from a couple meters away, pausing her waving to cup her hands around her mouth, “Why do you look so gloomy? What’s got your wings in a knot?”

Raven laughed. First off, she did not have wings. There were no wings to get a knot in! Secondly, Maddie really knew how to lighten the mood, and get Raven out of her darkest, deepest thoughts with just a few sentences.

“What’s so funny? Is my hair a mess again? I swear, it’s the mice--”

“Mice? Maddie, what mice?”

“Oh I thought you’d never ask!” Maddie excitedly bounced on her heels, before fluffing her hair up, making the curly nest of hair look even crazier than it usually did. “I have a few little... friends, but don’t go around telling anybody! Earl and Gray are a secret!”

Judging by Maddie’s shout, it didn’t seem to be that much of a secret, but Maddie always was a bit… eccentric to say the least. She didn’t act in ways that most people did or expected her to, and she honestly didn’t really care, as far as Raven knew. She wished she could be more like that.

“Pets at EA aren’t allowed,” Maddie rambled, “Let alone mice! But I mean, if you were to take one look at either of them, you’d agree that Earl and Gray absolutely do belong there!”

“Why aren’t they allowed?” Raven asked, curious. Were animals against the rules because they could harm other students? Because the rules were stupid, and just wanted to exercise unnecessary restraint over the students there? Was it one of those health code violation things that Maddie talked about once upon a time?

“Oh! A great question!” Maddie said, holding a gloved finger up, before deflating a bit. “Though… I haven’t an answer.”

Raven quirked an eyebrow and smiled, but didn’t question it. Maybe Maddie didn’t know it, but the rule was there for her safety. Or perhaps other’s safety?

“Crow, are you alright?” Maddie said, her tone suddenly serious, which was much unlike her unless she noticed something was truly wrong. “You feel… different today.”

Raven shrugged. “I don’t know, if I’m being honest. I guess... I’m just questioning a lot of things today.”

“And so am I, Raven.” A voice said from behind Raven, causing her to stiffen like a board and slowly turn around.

Faybelle. Of course it was her! Out of everybody, who else would follow her to the human realm after she specifically told them to leave her alone? Fay-fucking-Belle.

“And by that, I mean that I’m questioning your true loyalty to not only your mother and father, but to all of fae-kind. Not like how good you are at magic. Which you aren’t.” 

Faybelle laughed, as if she had said something hilarious rather than incredibly stupid. Raven clenched her fists, and looked back to Maddie who seemed to be completely out of things to say, and even do. “Please, run.” She said, her voice low. 

Maddie nodded, understanding the severity of the situation, and slowly backed away, before making a break for it.

Faybelle made no move to go after her thankfully, not really caring about the curly-haired human. 

“Anyways, I just can’t wait until your mother hears about this!” Faybelle said excitedly, clasping her hands together, before pulling out a mirror. “You’re going to be exposed for what you truly are: a traitor! And I, beloved, amazing Faybelle, will gain your spot as the next future Queen! Isn’t that just spell-tacular, Raven?”

“Wow. You sure do have big dreams for someone so… devoid of proof.” Raven replied, crossing her arms, with a slight grin. Maddie was safe, and without solid proof, Faybelle’s word was as good as nothing against Raven’s. “And also, what exactly gives you the idea that my mom would trust you, of all people, to not only give you the right to the stupid throne, but also believe that I’m befriending a human? It’s just not a realistic dream, Faybelle. Even for you.”

Faybelle rolled her eyes, and shook the mirror she was holding, as if to bring attention to it. “You really don’t get it, do you? I have solid, indisputable, undeniable proof that you think that you can not only slack on your duties when it comes to this… human girl, but that you actually believe that they’re inherently good and kind, when for centuries they’ve killed our kind! You’re the inane one here, Raven.” 

Raven’s eyes narrowed when Faybelle mentioned her “undeniable proof”, and took a step closer to the fae. “and by that indisputable, undeniable, proof, Faybelle, do you mean the thing you're waving around?” She said, as the fairy’s smug smirk turned into a nervous grin.

“Hah, about that…” She began, backing away from Raven, holding her hands behind her back, already knowing what action she was going to take. “Bye!”

Raven leaped at Faybelle, who stepped into the fairy circle and disappeared before the other girl could put her hands on her, leaving Raven to hurriedly follow her into the fae world, as her worries got the best of her.

 _Did she hex me to get it to record me?_ Raven thought, as she flung herself through the trees, not caring to watch out for others, and only caring to look out for Faybelle, who somehow managed to stay out of her range of sight. 

She knocked down a tree, nearly crushing a few faeries, who yelled at her to come back and fix what she did. But Raven couldn’t hear them, trapped in her own little world.

_Where is she? She couldn’t have gone far!_

Raven felt blood drip down her arm, as she had cut herself on a thorn bush in her rush, but paid no mind to it.

 _What if she recorded me talking to Maddie with the mirror, while I was unaware of her being there?_

Raven felt her heart drop. What if Faybelle's plan was to show her mother the recording, so her mother would send a fae off to kill Maddie, and lock Raven up for good? What would she do? 

Her fears were coming to life; oh if only she had been more cautious around Faybelle!

Raven knew she had to hurry. If she didn’t get to Faybelle before she got to her mother-- well, she didn’t know what would happen. She just didn’t wish to take any risks involving her very-much-human friend. Fae weren’t exactly the most humane or kind when it involved humans. And her mother was definitely no exception. Some would even say she was crueler than most when it came to that topic.

It took Raven a total of ten minutes to make it home, to the castle where Faybelle stood in front of her mother, showing her an enchanted mirror, which had Maddie’s voice coming out from it.

_What was going to become of her?_

“Oh a great question! Though... I haven’t an answer.” Maddie’s voice rang throughout the hall, as Faybelle turned to look at Raven and smirked.

_She was too late._


End file.
